A Way With Words

One of them would say her hair felt like a "stump full of granddaddies."

My dad would say he was worn to a frazzle.

My sister and brothers thought mom had "eyes in the back of her head" because she always seemed to know what they were doing, good or bad.

Another was always promising she would do thus and so "until the cows came home."

An aunt promised to "dance at my wedding" if I would do her a favor.

Jesus Christ knew how to choose words wisely through his homespun parables.

While talking about judging, He said, "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to to the plank in your own eye? Those were the words of a carpenter who knew about sawdust and two by fours.

He called those people who judge others, hypocrites. Judge not, that ye be not judged.

They are boastful with a better than thou attitude. If you were born into a better environment, does that make you better than others?

We are quick to find fault while overlooking our own.

Recently a party of three was having lunch at a popular out of town restaurant. It was a holiday and more crowded than usual. Some impatient diners were kept waiting for 30 minutes or more before they were seated. All tables were full and the waitresses were hardpressed to keep up with the demands of those being served.

One young waitress tried frantically to please the party of three. They wanted more tea, more napkins, tartar sauce, more hot rolls..

She smiled and did their biding, all the while trying to keep up with other demands, moving from table to table. Her smile began to fade.

At the end of the (delicious) meal, the three debated about how much to tip the waitress. They were divided. They settled on an amount which didn't seem quite enough, not the norm, so they added a little more. Then they decided that perhaps they should tip a bit more, which they did.

On their way home, they noted that the waitress was not as accommodating as she could have been. Yet she had been rushed, swamped with customers.

"Hey," one of the three said, "maybe she was having a bad day. Perhaps she wanted to be home with her children, not waiting tables. They considered different scenerios.

Maybe she wan't feeling well; maybe she'd had a spat with her spouse. Maybe she was depending on the tip to help pay a bill. Maybe she just couldn't keep up.

It was, after all, an unusually busy holiday.

Of course, that's just a minor example. We sometimes judge people when we know nothing about their circumstances or real life situations.

Jesus Christ used colorful phrases and parables to teach his Disciples many things when He walked among them.

Those same parables are taught from the pulpit to His followers today.

It's certainly true that William Shakespeare had a way with words.

He said, "All the world's a stage" and "Parting is such sweet sorrow."

He quoted, "Neither a borrower nor a lender be."

About love, he said, "The course of true love never did run smooth." (Amen to that!)

And "To be or not to be, that is the question."

"Much ado about nothing."

If you know someone who teeters between an A and a B, why not give him the benefit of a doubt.